Manuele Blasi
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Manuele Blasi (; born 17 August 1980) is an Italian former professional footballer who played a
midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
and now works as a coach.


Club career

Primarily a
central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
, Blasi made his
Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
debut for
AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...
in a match against
Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...
on 22 January 2000. he also played for Lecce at
Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...
before returned to Roma. In mid-2000 he was signed by
Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...
at (first in co-ownership deal for a peppercorn of 1 million Italian lire; €516). At Perugia he played 46 Serie A matches. In June 2001, he was signed permanently for 18 billion lire (€9.296 million)), however, in terms of the signing of Giuseppe Cattivera also for 18 billion lire. In July 2002, he was signed by
Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
for about €17.7 million, and loaned back to
Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...
in the first season. In the second season he joined
Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
. He was suspended due to testing positive for nandrolone until March.


Juventus

Blasi returned to
Juventus FC Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
in 2004, under Fabio Capello, his coach at Roma; he received his first
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
call-up in August. In his first season with Juventus, he was often partnered with his former Roma teammate Emerson in the centre of the team's midfield, in Capello's 4–4–2 formation, fighting off competition from Stephen Appiah and Alessio Tacchinardi for a starting spot, and collecting 27 appearances as Juventus won the league title. The following season, due to the injuries of Jonathan Zebina and Gianluca Pessotto, he often played as a right-back. Due to the arrival of Patrick Vieira and the emergence of Giorgio Chiellini, however, he often found a lack of first team opportunities both in midfield and defence, although he was awarded a new contract extension, which would keep him with the club until 2009. He made six starts for the club throughout the season, as the team won a second consecutive league title. While waiting for the outcome of the 2006 Italian football scandal sentences, which ultimately saw Juventus relegated to
Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...
and stripped of their previous two league titles due to their involvement in ''Calciopoli'', Blasi joined
Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...
on a loan with an option to buy, under Cesare Prandelli, who had previously also been his coach at Parma.


Napoli

Along with his former Juventus teammate Marcelo Zalayeta, Blasi was sold to newly promoted Serie A team Napoli for €1.4 million and €2.45 million respectively in co-ownership deal in the summer of 2007. He signed a five-year contract with the club. In June 2008, Napoli bought the remaining half of the player's registration rights from Juventus for €2.6 million. On 31 August 2009, Blasi was loaned to
Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
after he had played the opening match of the
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
against Salernitana in the Coppa Italia on 16 August. On 20 May 2010, he joined AC Milan on loan exclusively for a three-game friendly tournament in the United States.


Lecce

On 27 January 2012, Blasi signed with
Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
side Lecce during the January transfer window.


Pescara

On 7 August 2012, Blasi joined the newly promoted
Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
side Delfino Pescara 1936 on a one-year deal.


Varese

Blasi joined
Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...
in 2013. He spent two seasons at the club and was released in 2015.


Chennaiyin

Blasi joined Indian club Chennaiyin FC in 2015 after the expiry of his contract at
Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...
. He was retained in 2016, after a short spell at Ischia Isolaverde.


International career

At youth level, Blasi played for the Italy U-15 team, the Italy U-16 team in 1997 UEFA European Under-16 Championship qualifying; the Italy U-18 team at the 1999 UEFA European Under-18 Championship, where they lost out to the Portugal U-18 side in the final; and the Italy U-20 team at the 2000 Toulon Tournament. He also played for the Italy U-21 side at the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, as a starter, due to the injury of Enzo Maresca; he partnered Matteo Brighi, Andrea Pirlo and Marco Marchionni in midfield, as they reached the semi-finals. Manuele Blasi has also played for the Italy senior national team, for which he debuted on 18 August 2004 in a 2–0 friendly away loss against
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
, at the age of 24, which was also manager Marcello Lippi's first match in charge of the national side. In total he made eight appearances for Italy between 2004 and 2005.


Style of play

A dynamic, tenacious, combative, and hard-working box-to-box midfielder, with notable stamina, a powerful shot from distance, and good ball-winning abilities, Blasi is a tactically versatile player, who is capable of playing as a right-sided or central midfielder, or even as a defensive midfielder in the centre of a three-man midfield, where his main function is to break down opposition plays and distribute the ball to his teammates. He is also known for his leadership and team spirit, although he has also drawn criticism at times from his managers for committing too many rash fouls and for having a tendency to pick up cards. Primarily a midfielder, throughout his career, he has also played as a right-back on occasion. Due to his technical characteristics and wide range of skills, he has also been deployed as a deep-lying playmaker in midfield, in front of the back-line, courtesy of his good feet, distribution, and ability to switch the play.Cosmi: "Blasi regista? Può farlo, ha piedi buoni"
Mediagol.it


Coaching career

On 12 January 2017, it was announced, that Blasi had joined Italian amateur club CPC 2005 Civitavecchia. However, in September 2017, he was announced as the club's new manager. On 23 May 2019, Blasi was named manager of the Maltese club of Hamrun Spartans for his first professional experience as a manager. Despite reaching the quarter-finals in the Maltese FA Trophy, he was sacked by the club on the beginning of February 2020.


Career statistics


Club


International


Honours

Chennaiyin FC *
Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...
:
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...


References


External links

*
Player profile
on Napoli's official website


Profile at La gazzetta dello Sport

Profile at FIGC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blasi, Manuele 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Civitavecchia Italian men's footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's international footballers AS Roma players US Lecce players AC Perugia Calcio players Parma Calcio 1913 players Juventus FC players ACF Fiorentina players SSC Napoli players Palermo FC players Delfino Pescara 1936 players SSD Varese Calcio players Chennaiyin FC players SSD Ischia Calcio players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Indian Super League players Expatriate men's footballers in India Men's association football midfielders Doping cases in association football Italian sportspeople in doping cases Footballers from the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital Ħamrun Spartans F.C. managers Ayia Napa FC managers Enosis Neon Paralimni FC managers 21st-century Italian sportsmen